Heidelberg Announces New Product Installations

Shapco Printing adds prepress solutions
Heidelberg's Prinect workflow has driven prepress operations at Shapco Printing, a full-service commercial shop in Minneapolis, for years. When it came time to install a new platesetter, Heidelberg's reputation for quality plus guaranteed compatibility with Prinect workflow led the shop to install a new Suprasetter 105 thermal platesetter from Heidelberg. "There is so much positive feedback in the marketplace about the reliability and quality of Heidelberg's platesetters," said Joel Shapiro, who co-founded Shapco Printing with his two brothers in 1976. "We already had the Prinect prepress system, and the concept of full integration was very attractive." In addition to general commercial work, Shapco Printing, which has grown over the last three decades to 125 employees and five 40-inch presses, handles point-of-sale printing for retailers, menus for national restaurants, annual reports and art books. "We're known as a high-end prepress shop," Shapiro said. "We do some very sophisticated Photoshop work." A high-end shop needs the best in prepress workflow, and Prinect from Heidelberg fits the bill. "I really like the overall reliability, features and screening capabilities. Prinect gets an A-plus across the board. The PDF workflow is really sensational; the speed at which everything rips and the ease with which it works with various programs such as InDesign, PageMaker and QuarkXPress is really terrific." Shapco's new Suprasetter, which includes an internal punching system, is also working out well. "Internal punch on the Suprasetter was a good step forward," Shapiro said. "We are reducing the number of pulls needed to get in register, and that's something we couldn't achieve with the external punch." In addition to the Suprasetter, the shop runs a 5-color Printmaster GTO press and three Stahlfolders from Heidelberg.

Unity Printing Adds Two Heidelberg Presses
Unity Printing Company of Latrobe, Pa. recently installed two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 presses to boost productivity in its pressroom. The company was so impressed with the brand new 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press that it quickly ordered a second one less than one month later. The first press installed has generated nearly two million impressions in under six months, and the second press boasts nearly one million impressions. By adding two new QM 46 presses in one month, Unity Printing has more than doubled its production capability. "We experienced such amazing reductions in makeready and turn-around time on the QM 46 presses," Operations Manager John Melle said. "Now we are able to run jobs much more quickly with less waste. The number of jobs we have successfully run on the new press is unbelievable." The company replaced an older model, non-automated competitive press with the new QM 46 presses, which are running one-, two- and four-color jobs. "We are using less manpower to do twice as much work," Melle said. "Essentially, we are able to do the same amount of work, if not more, on the two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 presses as we did on the four presses we were using, which makes Unity Printing more competitive in the marketplace and benefits our customers." Melle cites make-ready time reduction as one of the most impressive qualities of the QM 46 presses, along with a large decline in the number of waste sheets and improved overall quality. Unity Printing Owner Jay Ernette visited a shop in Florida recently that had Heidelberg presses, prompting the company's research into Heidelberg equipment after witnessing these presses at work. "The QM 46 presses are such a good fit for our company," Melle said. Unity Printing runs general commercial work for regional clients in a variety of industries. Founded in 1979, the company currently employs 23.

Raff Printing installs Speedmaster SM 52
When asked why he chose to install a new Heidelberg 5-color Speedmaster SM 52 press, Raff Printing Vice President and part-Owner Ron Yeckel says it simply – "It's just the best." For a company that runs several larger Heidelberg presses, the results of the mid-size SM 52 press are surprising. "The SM 52 is unbelievable," Yeckel said. "It prints solids as well as our larger Heidelberg presses, which is hard to believe when printing on 24-point board." The company chose to install the new press with aqueous coating capabilities to enhance its four-color, two-sided envelope production. "You can do anything with this press," Yeckel said. The new press is protected by Heidelberg's Systemservice 36plus service package, which offers 36 months of expanded support services, maintenance, repair services and parts coverage. Raff Printing's suite of Heidelberg presses includes four Heidelberg offset presses, including a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102 with coater. For finishing work, Raff relies on high-performing Heidelberg postpress equipment, including a POLAR automatic cutter, Stitchmaster ST 400 stitcher and a Heidelberg Stahlfolder. The company produces a large range of high-end products for its clients, including books, folders, catalogs, brochures, posters and other general commercial work. Raff Printing was founded more than 55 years ago in Pittsburgh, and currently houses 115 employees.

Malloy Inc., a premier book printing company in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently installed a Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor and a Suprasetter A52 platesetter, both from Heidelberg. The new installations are already enhancing productivity for the shop, which produced more than 1.1 million impressions on the press in the first 30 days of production. "The Anicolor technology significantly reduces make-ready time and brings us up to color quickly," Malloy's Vice President and General Manager Peter Shima said. "Our make-ready waste is also substantially less than before." The company replaced an older model press with the SM 52, which the company is primarily using to produce book covers. "We can produce about three covers per hour already, and we are still in the learning phase," Shima said. "The SM 52 really lives up to its advertising in terms of waste reduction, image quality and productivity – and the registration is dead-on." The press was installed with Heidelberg's Systemservice 36plus package, which allows for 36 months of service support, maintenance, repair support and replacements. Malloy chose to install Heidelberg's accompanying platesetter, the Suprasetter A52, which images small- and mid-format plates that coordinate perfectly with the SM 52. With runs averaging 4,000 copies or less, the smaller format is "a perfect fit." As one of the early adopters of CtP almost 15 years ago, Malloy is accustomed to embracing the latest technologies. The company runs a variety of Heidelberg equipment, including a Speedmaster SM 74 used for printing covers, a Speedmaster SM 102 used for printing text, and several POLAR cutters. Malloy Inc. has 285 employees who print and bind books for national accounts. The company focuses on soft-cover and case-bound books, and was founded in 1960.

Hightower Graphics adds Printmaster QM 46
For his first venture into sheetfed offset printing, Chad Hightower chose a new 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press from Heidelberg. He started his Indianapolis-based shop, Hightower Graphics, five years ago as a broker, and has expanded his capabilities as business has grown over the years. "I've always been a fan of Heidelberg," Hightower said. "I know people who run the QM 46 and have been very happy as far as the quality for small format. It's a tremendous press and it does phenomenal work." The shop also recently acquired a new POLAR 66 cutter. "We wanted the ease of programming, which the POLAR 66 cutter offers, and this particular model was the perfect size for us," Hightower said. And in prepress, Hightower runs a Quicksetter 300E platesetter. The shop uses Heidelberg Saphira Perfect Dot blankets on the press as well as other Heidelberg Saphira Consumables. "This Printmaster is our first step into offset," Hightower said. "Business has been very good - we love it."

Print Fast buys Printmaster QM 46 press

Print Fast, a quick print shop located in Ashland, Ore., had been running a one-color Heidelberg press it bought in 1997. After a decade of growth - and millions of impressions - it was time to add more capacity, leading the shop to recently purchase a brand new 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press from Heidelberg. "We've experienced a very good year and we knew we needed to upgrade," Manager Steve Tibbetts said. "We began investigating new presses, decided on the QM 46 and took delivery in April." The shop runs a lot of stationery on the new press, and about 15 percent of its work is four-color process. After installing the press, Print Fast also upgraded its bindery with a new POLAR 66 cutter from Heidelberg. "The new cutter is working out well," Tibbetts said. "Our operators like it a lot." The shop is using Heidelberg Saphira Perfect Dot blankets on its press, and also relies on Heidelberg Systemservice, which has been a "very good experience." Print Fast was founded in 1983 and has nine employees. It offers self-serve copying, color copying and one-color to four-color offset printing.

Ry-Gan Printing Adds Stahlfolder

Ry-Gan Printing of Rochester, N.Y. had already experienced the durability and quality construction of Heidelberg's Stahlfolder line of folders. So when it came time to upgrade the bindery, a new Heidelberg Stahlfolder TH 66 folder was the logical choice. "We had a Stahlfolder before and we were very pleased with the results," Ry-Gan's President Craig Schinsing said. "The new folder is working out great. We are very pleased with it. The setup is easy and the interface is operator-friendly. All the operators love it." Ry-Gan is an all-Heidelberg trade printer specializing in short-run work for small printers and overflow for large printers. The shop produces brochures, envelopes and other general commercial materials. Reliable service is also a reason for Ry-Gan's long relationship with Heidelberg. "Even with the best equipment, problems do arise - and Heidelberg can always get someone there very quickly to address any issues we have," Schinsing said. "I've tried other manufacturers, and the experience never compares with Heidelberg service." In addition to its new Stahlfolder, the shop also runs two POLAR cutters, three Speedmaster presses and a Prosetter P74 platesetter from Heidelberg.

Slocum Printing adds POLAR Cutter
Slocum Printing, a general commercial shop in Dallas, has relied on Heidelberg presses for decades. The company recently upgraded its postpress operations with a new POLAR 115 X cutter from Heidelberg. "We've been buying nothing but Heidelberg since the 1950s," said Billy Slocum, who now runs the business. "You can rely on Heidelberg equipment and technologies - they are dependable and you can run them for years." Slocum prints flight manuals and other in-flight books for a major airline. With some books including specially cut dividers and pages, precision cutting is a must. With the shop's old cutter, cutting the books would take up to two-and-a-half days - but thanks to the new POLAR, the same job takes four-and-a-half hours. "Seeing this cutter perform has been a revelation," Slocum said. "The power and precision of the machine is just tremendous. We get more work done, it's better work, and the guys are not tired from lifting and jogging all day long. We've been having a ball with it." In addition to the new POLAR cutter, Slocum also runs a Prosetter P102 violet platesetter in prepress and two 40-inch Heidelberg Speedmaster presses - a 5-color SM 102 and a 2-color CD 102 - in the pressroom. The shop also uses Saphira violet plates and other Heidelberg Saphira Consumables.

World Arts Adds Press, Saddlestitcher from Heidelberg
World Arts, a general commercial shop in Spencer, Ind., recently added a 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press and a Stitchmaster ST 450 saddlestitcher from Heidelberg to its lineup. According to Owner Philip Gillaspy, automation, fast make-ready times and production speed were the key factors in choosing the QM 46. "We're running everything on the new press, including cards, envelopes, letterheads and flyers," Gillaspy said. A family-owned shop with 90 employees in business since 1960, World Arts maintains several vintage presses, including a Heidelberg MOS+L, a Heidelberg KORD and a Heidelberg Windmill. The bindery is full of Heidelberg equipment, with four Stahlfolder B26 folders, one Stahlfolder B14 pharmaceutical folder and two POLAR cutters, in addition to the new Stitchmaster. "I'm just thrilled to death with our Stitchmaster," Gillaspy said. "It's an unbelievable piece of equipment. We went out and did the demos, and the Stitchmaster was definitely more than a couple of notches above the competition. It's a superior machine." Heidelberg service has also been a plus for World Arts. "We don't have to call them that often, which is a good thing," Gillaspy said. "Spare parts availability has always been very good."

Rick's Printing invests in prepress with Heidelberg

More than seven years ago, Rick and Keri Jacobs set out to build a solid foundation for their newly opened print shop with a Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 press and a POLAR 78 cutter. Just a few years later, they added a Heidelberg 300E Quicksetter, then a new Heidelberg 5-color Printmaster PM 52 to expand the all-Heidelberg shop. Now with six employees, Rick's Printing is in high demand in the Portland, Ore. market. In order to compete with growing demand and bring all prepress operations in-house, Jacobs, who owns the shop, recently installed a Prosetter 74 violet platesetter from Heidelberg. "As our workload has grown, we have to continue to meet the needs of our clients," Jacobs said. The Prosetter will enhance metal platemaking through internal drum imaging for the two existing Heidelberg presses running at Rick's Printing, as well as the soon-to-be installed Heidelberg 4-color Speedmaster CD 74 press with inline coater. "We are making aggressive moves in the current economy because we have an aggressive approach to growth," Jacobs said. "I don't think I would be in business if I had not started out with Heidelberg equipment and continued to invest in new technologies from Heidelberg. Because of Heidelberg's reliability and recognition in the industry, we continue to prosper." As a trade printer, Rick's Printing serves mostly resale work through brokers, printers and designers. Heidelberg Saphira Consumables are in use with the Prosetter 74 and on all of the shop's presses. With in-house prepress operation in full swing and a new press on the horizon, Rick's Printing will continue to grow one step at a time with Heidelberg technologies.

Ryan Printing buys a Stahlfolder TH 82

Despite continuing advances in technology, traditional printing, or 'putting ink on paper,' remains an art form. So says Ryan Printing, which recently augmented its all-Heidelberg postpress operation with a new Stahlfolder TH 82 folder from Heidelberg. When the company needed additional folding capabilities to handle six-page scoring work, Heidelberg was the only answer. The Stahlfolder, which replaced an older model folder, has reduced changeover and make-ready times with added automation features, including the air stream register table with vacuum sheet guidance and intuitive controls. "The Stahlfolder TH 82 is amazing," Bindery Foreman Jason Kelly said. "We no longer experience bottlenecks in our bindery because the new folder is so much faster than our previous folder." The company boasts two additional Stahlfolders from Heidelberg, as well as a POLAR 115 cutter as part of its all-Heidelberg postpress department. In the pressroom, Heidelberg's Quickmaster DI press, Printmaster QM 46 press and two Speedmaster CD 74 presses contribute to Ryan Printing's success. The entire shop is held together by its prepress operations, including a Heidelberg Prosetter platesetter and Heidelberg Prinect Prepress Interface, Prinect MetaDimension and Prinect MetaShooter solutions. Ryan Printing produces sell sheets, newsletters, brochures, postcards, catalogs, stationery, pocket folders, posters and other general commercial work for its regional clients. There are currently 10 employees at the Blauvelt, N.Y. shop.